A Slow and Steady Recovery
by Centralia Currie
Summary: Sequel to "Murder at Empire Corp." Luke has been traumatized by his father's actions and has just been released from a depression clinic to go live at the Lars farm. Upset and medicated, he awaits a more hopeful life. AU.
1. Life at the Lars Farm

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Star Wars or these characters.

**Author's Note**: This is a companion piece to my last Star Wars fic. In this one, Darth Vader has been arrested for the murder of Earl Jones, and Luke and Leia have been sent to live with their godparents. Luke is very depressed. Can anything help him feel better?

* * *

><p>"Beru, have you seen Luke this morning?" Owen Lars asked his wife. Beru Lars was scrambling eggs at the stove for breakfast.<p>

"He's up in his room. He doesn't feel well."

"He _never_ feels well. We really ought to send him back to the hospital."

"They can't do anything for him anymore, Owen. That's why they sent him _home_!"

Upstairs in his room, 16-year-old Luke Skywalker was sitting in bed in his pajamas and robe, staring up at the ceiling. He thought he would enjoy coming to live with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, but it was getting to be just as bad as the hospital. It was almost harvest time, and Uncle Owen was trying to calculate the shipments he'd be able to make and the money he could earn. Aunt Beru was stuck helping him figure out their family budget for the next year, which involved planning for three instead of two. They weren't sure how long Luke would be living with them.

Luke missed the Aunt Beru who would watch TV and play games with him when he was sick.

"Owen, speaking of Luke, I can't help you today. I really should spend some time with him. Last night, when I was giving him his medicine, he looked more depressed than ever," Beru was telling her husband. "He needs me. Otherwise, we might as well ship him up to the Organas and let their staff look after him."

"They have the money," Owen admitted. "But we can put still food on the table, can't we?"

Beru nodded and corralled the scrambled eggs into a bowl. "I'm not giving him up that easily."

Luke had just been released from a depression clinic. His father, Darth Vader, had been arrested earlier in the summer for the murder of a colleague—his father's boss, Yoh Da, had been doing some investigating and had pieced together what had happened to the CEO of EmpireCorp, Earl Jones. Jones had apparently been strangled using some mind control technique, which Da was able to recognize. The police didn't care how the mind control technique worked, only that they had found Jones' murderer. Darth Vader had been arrested on possible murder charges.

Luke and his twin sister, Leia, had been sent to live with their respective godparents. Leia's godparents, the Organas, were wealthy politicians who lived in the Nevada state capital of Carson City. Luke's godparents were his father's stepbrother and his wife, who lived on a farm in Tattooine, Nevada, which was three hours away.

Days into his new living arrangement, it became apparent that Luke was depressed and on the verge of suicide. When Beru Lars had walked in on her nephew trying to slit his wrists, she had called for help. Luke had been placed into a hospital and entered into a six-week program for depressed teens.

He had done very well, and had been released to his aunt and uncle just two days earlier, with the stipulation that Luke do as he pleased and got lots of rest. No farm chores.

_That_ sure made him happy, but it had made his aunt and uncle want to cry. Owen and Beru hadn't known that the little nephew they had held as an infant, fed, burped, and played with for hours on end while his parents were busy would grow up to harm himself. Luke had always been such a happy-go-lucky kid, but now he felt as if his world were over. It was so sad.

In a few minutes, Aunt Beru entered Luke's room with a breakfast tray. "Good morning, Luke, honey. I told your uncle that I've been neglecting my sick nephew, so I'll be able to spend some time with you today, okay?" She set the tray in front of Luke and caressed his cheek in her hand.

Luke smiled and picked up his fork. "Okay," he said, in a voice so soft it was but a whisper.

"Unfortunately, honey, it doesn't look like we can afford new school clothes for you this year," Beru said kindly. "We're already looking at a bigger electric bill and food for three. But I've looked at your things, and I can patch up your jeans and sew up the holes in your sweaters. If you really need some new things, I'll look at what I have for material."

"I don't want to go to school," Luke mumbled, playing with his eggs.

"Would you like to be tutored at home? I'm sure the school has some kind of homestay program for students who have been hospitalized. I'll get one of your doctors to write a letter to the school."

Luke nodded, finally managing to get a bite into his mouth.

"Okay, we'll do that," Aunt Beru smiled. "Can I get you anything else before I have breakfast with your uncle, sweetie?"

Luke shook his head.

Aunt Beru gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Please try to eat, Luke. If you don't start eating, I'll have to call your doctor and have him put you on medicine to give you an appetite."

Luke moaned silently. The last thing he wanted was more doctors, but he couldn't bring himself to eat. He just had no desire for food.

Aunt Beru went downstairs to eat breakfast with Uncle Owen, and Luke took a look around his room. It was usually a room he shared with Leia, but Aunt Beru had decked it out with pictures only of Luke: Luke as a newborn, being held by Uncle Owen. Luke standing up in his crib, his blue eyes wet with tears, probably due to a soiled diaper. Luke playing with blocks and putting one in his mouth. Luke milking a cow. Luke happy and smiling, hugging Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen.

_Why were they pretending that Leia didn't exist?_

"It's not that we don't love your sister as much as we always have," Aunt Beru had told Luke as soon as she'd gotten him settled and home from the hospital. "It's that we need to focus on you from now on. We need to focus on Luke for a while."

With good food and loving godparents, Luke should have felt happy and on the way to recovery, but he didn't. He still felt so depressed.

He knew it was because his father and lied to him and Leia.

* * *

><p>At Alderaan- her godparents' house- Leia Skywalker was sitting at the computer in her room, writing an e-mail. For the past couple of days, she'd been trying her hardest to get in touch with Luke mentally- the twins could speak without words- but either Luke wasn't getting her messages or wasn't responding.<p>

So she had to get in touch with her brother the old-fashioned way.

_Dear Luke,_

_Haven't you been getting my mind messages? I've been trying to get in touch with you at least once an hour, but you're not responding to me. Are you upset or drugged up? Both? _

_Uncle Owen isn't making you do chores, is he? That would be plain unfair._

_I don't want to make this any longer than it has to be, because I don't want to bore you or upset you. I just want you to respond to me, it only has to be one line, telling me that you're okay and you're not going to kill yourself again. You're my brother, and you're too precious to lose._

_[Big hug],_

_Leia_

_P.S.- Be sure to have Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru send your medical bills to Mr. Organa, even if you just need checkups. He's paying for everything._

Just this morning, Leia had asked her godfather when she would be able to see her brother again.

Bail Organa replied that he wanted to give Luke enough time to heal, so it was impossible to tell. That had made Leia cry; she wanted to see Luke and hug him again more than anything.

She would have to settle for a hug across cyberspace.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: I've decided that the town of Tatooine, where Luke and Leia live, is in Nevada, because Nevada is as close to the desert as one can possibly get. That would make the Organa family live in Carson City, the capital of that state.

**Up Next**: Han Declares His Love (Again)


	2. The Rose Petal 'Vandal'

**Disclaimer**: I don't own these characters.

* * *

><p>Luke barely touched his food. He had a medical appointment with Dr. Kenobi that very afternoon, and cringed at what his former neighbor would say to his Aunt Beru about his weight, which had probably dipped down into the double digits by now.<p>

But Luke didn't care at this point. Maybe something to increase his appetite would be good for him; he sure wasn't getting nutrients by eating.

Next, Aunt Beru went into the bathroom and ran Luke a bath; Luke agreed that baths were easier than showers to relax in, and plus, he was glad he wasn't at Alderaan. He had seen Leia's bathroom there: she bathed in a Jacuzzi tub with puffy pink curtains, and was pampered with a bath pillow, candles, one of those loofah things, and endless bottles of pink gels, creams, and bath beads that she probably never used. It was enough to make a person go insane and hate pink.

Aunt Beru simply handed him a washcloth, bar of soap, and bottle of shampoo, and took a fresh towel out of the linen closet. "And surely you don't need me to bathe you, Luke?"

Luke shook his head. "No, I'm okay."

"All right, well, I'll be downstairs doing the dishes. I'll be up in a little while."

_Brrrrr_. The water wasn't _freezing_, but it was cold enough. At least the bath water jolted Luke out of his fatigue; hurriedly, he struggled to soap up and rinse off before the water got any colder.

Luke scooted over to the tap and turned the hot water on, because he wasn't about to dunk his head in the chilly tub. As he ran his blonde head underneath the warm water, his brain suddenly received a very loud message.

_LUUUUUUKE!_

Luke sat bolt upright, bumping his head on the tap. He turned off the tap and sourly rubbed his sore head. _Owww, Leia!_ he complained silently to his sister, then sent her the mind message back. _Do you have to scream? I just bumped my head on the bath tap!_

_ I'm sorry, Luke, but you haven't spoken to me in weeks!_

_ I haven't been getting your messages. I'm on three different types of medications, and they're clouding my brain. You're lucky that Aunt Beru ran me a cool bath to wake me up, or else I would still be foggy._

_ That's what I figured. Just check your e-mail. We'll communicate that way._

_ Okay._

Luke shampooed his head and rinsed. He got out of the tub, drained it, and wrapped a towel around his slender body, which was growing more and more slender by the day. In the bathroom mirror, he saw that his forehead was bleeding.

He went over to the linen closet and reached for another washcloth. How was he going to explain this to Aunt Beru without her thinking that it was another suicide attempt?

* * *

><p><em>Dear Leia,<em>

_As I explained to you earlier, I'm on three different types of medications: two antidepressants and sleeping pills. My mind isn't very clear at all. I'm shuffled to the bathroom to wash and then back to bed, where I spend most of my day. I've been craving some playtime with Aunt Beru, but she's busy helping Uncle Owen with the farm's budget. (And no, I don't have any chores.)_

_I don't want to talk about me a whole lot. Just know that I'm safe and I'm okay._

_How's Alderaan? What do you do there all day?_

_Hug,_

_Luke_

* * *

><p>C3PO still worked at RebelCorp, in Yoh Da's office. Da dropped him off at the Skywalkers' house once a day, usually after work, where he could check on things, to make sure that the place was still in order.<p>

Last evening, on a routine visit, Threepio had discovered that someone else had been visiting the Skywalkers'. On their front lawn, rose petals had been formed into the shape of a heart, and inside the heart, a message had been spelled out with small stones: COME BACK LEIA.

Threepio had chuckled to himself. It was obviously the work of young Solo, still helplessly in love with young mistress Leia.

Threepio missed the young humans. He had gone so far as to stock the pantry with Sugar-Frosted Intergalactic Space-O's, Master Luke's favorite, in the hopes that he would be home soon. Threepio's heart had broken when he learned that Master Luke had been in the hospital for a suicide attempt; he knew that Master Luke was with the Larses, but he didn't know how to get out there to visit him.

_And Master Vader?_ Master Vader had always treated him well, although learning that he had killed another human for job advancement wasn't all that surprising. Threepio was estimating that someone would pay off some kind of judge or lawyer, and Master Vader would be out on the streets again in no time.

_But the young humans..._ Threepio had to make sure that they were safe and well taken care of, one way or another.

* * *

><p>"Oh, Luke, what did you do to yourself <em>now<em>? Can't you even take a _bath _anymore?"

No, that wasn't what Aunt Beru had said, but she might as well have. What she really said was, "What happened, Luke?" in a disappointed tone.

"I bumped my head on the tap. I was trying to rinse my hair."

"Does it hurt? Don't tell me you have a concussion."

"No, it doesn't hurt. I'm okay."

Aunt Beru cleansed and wiped his wound- in a soft manner that only Aunt Beru would- and applied a bandage. "There."

Luke reached for his aunt's hand and squeezed it. She had to know that all of her efforts to help him were being taken well. "Thanks," he whispered, his blue eyes welling with tears.

"Sweetheart, are you all right? Do you need anything? Do you want to talk about anything?" his aunt asked him, concerned.

Luke, despondent, shook his head. He needed _love_, but how was he going to tell her that?

Luckily, she understood. "Let's get you out of that bathrobe and into some clothes, and I'll teach you how to play chess. How does that sound?"

Luke smiled. "Sounds great."

* * *

><p><strong>Up Next<strong>: Bail Organa's Surprising E-mail


	3. Timmy the Tauntaun

**Disclaimer**: I don't own these characters.

**Author's Note: Thank you** to everyone who has reviewed my stories. It always feels good to know that people are actually reading my stuff!

* * *

><p>Luke was standing on the scale in Dr. Kenobi's office being weighed. It was one of those old-fashioned scales where the doctor had to balance large weights to try and measure the weight of the patient; Luke still didn't know how to read it.<p>

"One hundred and twelve pounds," Dr. Kenobi frowned.

Luke looked down at his feet, ashamed. "I just have no appetite," he mumbled.

"Well, I'm sure your aunt and uncle are feeding you well," Dr. Kenobi replied kindly as he walked Luke back to the examining room. He lived in the house next door to the Skywalkers in Tattooine, and was Luke and Leia's primary medical caregiver.

Luke nodded. "I just can't eat."

"Do you feel sick as soon as you begin to eat, or can't you even get to that point?"

"I feel sick as soon as I look at the plate."

Dr. Kenobi opened the door to the examining room and motioned for Luke to sit down in the chair next to the counter. Aunt Beru was there as well, flipping through a magazine.

"Luke is underweight, but we're not quite in danger yet," Dr. Kenobi advised Luke's aunt. "I'm not about to prescribe medication to get him to put on weight, because for a growing teenager, that can be extremely dangerous."

Beru nodded and wrapped an arm around Luke. "Is it just a phase he's going through? Is it a side effect of his medication?"

"It may be either," Dr. Kenobi admitted. "Mrs. Lars, I want you to give Luke a daily multivitamin, so that he can get some nutrients. I also want you to continue to make Luke full meals for the next couple of days. Luke, maybe you can drink a dose of Pepto-Bismol before you eat. If there's no change in appetite within a week, you need to call me."

Aunt Beru nodded. She picked up Luke's hand and squeezed it. "We'll get you better, Luke," she whispered. "Just hang in there."

Luke nodded miserably and squeezed her hand back.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Owen and Beru,<em>

_I don't think this is going to work out._

_I love my goddaughter dearly, but there's no way that Leia and Luke can live apart. Leia seemed okay until my wife and I brought up school; she can't fathom going to a new school without her brother and her friends. She's sick with worry for her brother. She needs to be around her family._

_I know that you are struggling financially, and that Breha and I have money. I propose a solution: how about we deliver Leia to you, along with a child support payment of $5000 a month?_

_I know it may seem selfish of Breha and I to give Leia up, but I think it will be better for Leia to live with her brother. Luke may even recover faster having his sister by his side. I know that they're going to have to be separated sometime, but not with Luke sick like this._

_Please give me a call so that we can discuss this._

_Thanks,_

_Sen. Bail Organa_

_Nevada State Legislature_

* * *

><p>Beru started to make Luke's favorite foods, just to persuade him to eat. That evening, she allowed him to have a bowl of Sugar-Frosted Intergalactic Space-O's, his favorite breakfast cereal. Luke surprised her by actually finishing half a bowl.<p>

After a couple of hours of television, Beru tucked her nephew in, giving him a glass of water and his sleeping pills. "Don't forget your little sleeping buddy," she smiled as Luke swallowed a gulp of water.

Luke usually slept with a stuffed baby polar bear, a present that his parents had bought him on a vacation to Northern Canada when he was a toddler. When Luke was packing to go live at his relatives' house, he decided to leave the polar bear at home...thinking of the Skywalkers as one big happy family was just too painful.

Later, in the hospital, Mr. and Mrs. Organa had come to visit. As a gift, they had brought him a stuffed Tauntaun, a gray creature that looked like a cross between a kangaroo and a walrus, along with a couple of comic books from a series that Luke had never heard of before:_ The Adventures of Timmy the Tauntaun_.

Timmy the Tauntaun lived on the planet Hoth, which was many light years away. He rescued human explorers from the evil Wampa, an overgrown polar-bear type creature with big scary teeth. Tauntauns didn't smell very nice, so whenever Timmy got near the Wampa, the Wampa caved in and gave Timmy anything he wanted (if it was a good day), or tried to destroy Timmy (if it was a bad day.)

Luke didn't know how Mr. and Mrs. Organa had heard of Timmy the Tauntaun, but he had to admit that he liked the series, and that the stuffed Tauntaun was comforting. He'd slept with it every night since he'd received it.

"It's time to say goodnight to my little nephew," Owen smiled as he entered Luke's room. He kissed Luke goodnight as Luke squeezed his little Tauntaun.

Owen and Beru bid their nephew goodnight and turned out his lamp. Luke snuggled in his bed and squeezed his tauntaun. In the comic books, Timmy spent nights huddled in a cave with his stinky tauntaun buddies. Sometimes, they cuddled around some lost humans, to keep them warm during the frozen nights on planet Hoth.

Sleeping with a stuffed tauntaun kept Luke warm, and not just in the physical sense. He was reminded of the people who loved him.

* * *

><p>"Beru, did you read Bail Organa's e-mail?" Luke's aunt and uncle were snuggling into bed themselves.<p>

"Yeah, I checked my e-mail when you and Luke were watching American Ninja Warriors." Beru took a sip of her iced tea.

"What did you make of it?" Owen turned on the fan in the window and lay beneath a cool sheet.

"I think he's right, Owen, that having Leia here is going to help both of them." Beru paused and set her glass of iced tea on the nightstand. "But I'm not about to accept that much charity. _Five thousand dollars_ a month?"

"To them, I'm sure that's the cost of raising a child."

"Well, we certainly can't take them both in on what we have now," Beru reasoned aloud as she reached to turn the light off. "But all they need is food, clothing, school supplies, and maybe some pocket money. That should be a couple hundred a month, if that. Leia would need her own room if she's going to live here permanently, but we can do that. We'll go to Anakin's house and load Leia's bedroom furniture into your truck. She can live in my sewing room."

"And it would be better for them to live in this area and attend their old school," Owen sighed in the dark. "There's no way around it, Beru. If we take Leia in, we'll need some extra money."

"How about we have Bail over and discuss it one of these days? He has that chartered plane of his, I'm sure he can take a weekend afternoon off and come visit."

Owen shrugged. "I'll write to him tomorrow."

* * *

><p><strong>Up Next<strong>: A Visit From a Friend


	4. Mark Fisher Shows Up

**Disclaimer**: I don't own these characters.

**Author's Note**: I already had this written prior to the accident, so it may be a while until I update the story after this. It depends upon how things are and/or how I'm feeling.

* * *

><p>Luke had an awful dream. He dreamt he was on Hoth, and he fell into a frozen lake. Timmy the Tauntaun couldn't save him. His mouth was filling with water, and he was drowning.<p>

He woke up yelling for Aunt Beru and choking. A dustbunny had flown up his nose and down his throat.

Aunt Beru came into his room with a drink of water, and Luke felt terrible for waking her up. "Your uncle's already up, sweetheart," Aunt Beru smiled. "He's out milking the cows."

Luke mumbled something about crazy people waking up at the crack of dawn, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

Beru shook her head, smiled, and tucked her nephew in. She went back to her room to get another hour of sleep before it was time to make breakfast.

A while later, Owen and Beru were sitting down to breakfast together. Beru had asked Luke, as she did every morning, if he wanted to join them for breakfast or if he wanted his own.

Luke just threw his stuffed tauntaun at the door and grumbled that he was still sleepy.

"How's Luke this morning?" Owen asked.

"Being his usual moody self," Beru chuckled. "Owen, that kid was _not_ meant to be a farmer. Ten hours of sleep still isn't enough for him."

"He's sick, Beru. Just let him sleep."

"I know."

The doorbell rang, and Luke's aunt and uncle just stared at each other. "Who on earth could that be at this hour?" Beru wondered aloud, getting up from the table.

It was Mark Fisher, Luke's best friend. He lived not too far away from Luke's aunt and uncle, and had ridden his bike to the Lars farm.

"Hi, Mrs. Lars. I brought Luke some comic books," Mark smiled. Like Luke, he had messy hair and warm smile, although Luke's hair was blonde and Mark's was a light brown. "Is he up yet?"

"I'm not sure, Mark, honey. I'll check."

Up in his room, Luke was still in a grumpy mood until his aunt came in. "Luke," Beru said gently. "Your friend is at the door. He brought you some comic books."

Luke sat up in bed. For the first time in weeks, he was smiling. "Really?"

* * *

><p>"I asked Marilou to the movies."<p>

"Are you serious?" Luke was wide-eyed. He and Mark were sitting on Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen's living room sofa; Mark in regular clothes and Luke in his pajamas. Mark had been wanting to ask Marilou- one of Leia's best friends- out for almost an entire year now. "How was it?"

"I don't know. We haven't gone yet; we can't decide which movie we want to see. She doesn't want to see _Earth Destroyers Part IV_, and I refuse to see _Not Just Another Chick Flick_."

"Poor marketing," Luke commented. "If they think they can get guys into the movie by giving it a name like _that_, then they are sorely mistaken. I'm willing to bet ten bucks that it IS another chick flick."

"Hmmm," Mark nodded in agreement, scratching his chin. He picked up the comic book he had been reading. "So, how did Timmy get laser vision?"

"When Timmy was just a little tauntaun, his mother died of exposure trying to save a human colonist from the cold. Timmy managed to drag the human into safety, and the human turned out to be some kind of Hoth god in disguise. He gave Timmy laser vision to start fires and cook food. And fight the Wampa. It explains it all in volume 3."

"Does he have any other powers?"

"Yeah, he secretes oil that has healing powers. All tauntauns secrete oil, but Timmy's is special."

"Boys, it's time for breakfast," Aunt Beru smiled, coming into the living room with two bowls of Space-O's on a tray. "Mark, maybe you can be a good example for Luke by finishing all of your cereal."

Mark, who had already had two bowls of Space-O's that morning, but had an appetite like a bottomless pit, eagerly dug into another one. Luke just kind of picked at his food for a while, and then shoveled mouthfuls in little by little.

"My mom's on my back to get new clothes for school," Mark continued, talking with his mouth full. "I told her I don't need any, but she says all of my jeans have holes in them."

Luke shrugged. "So?"

"I know. I don't get it. What's wrong with jeans that have holes in them?"

Aunt Beru was straightening up the living room. She listened to Mark, and shook her head. "I don't know, Mark, maybe because they look silly."

"It's the style," Mark argued. "I want to look cool."

"But what about when it gets cold outside? Then you'll just look silly."

"We could trade jeans," Luke shrugged. "You can take all of mine, and I could take all of yours. Then we'll both have new jeans."

Mark grinned. "That's a _great_ idea!"

"How about I just take all of your holey jeans and repair them?" Aunt Beru offered.

Mark shoveled more Space-O's into his mouth. "Naw, I like Luke's idea better."

Aunt Beru just shook her head. _Boys_.

* * *

><p>After lunch, Luke fell under the seduction of his medicine, and usually conked right out. As he slept in his room, his aunt sat in her sewing room and patched up all of his holey jeans.<p>

Beru didn't blame Anakin Skywalker for how he turned out. As she reminded Owen several times, Anakin grew up basically in underground poverty. His mother worked long hours in a scrap yard for very little pay, and Anakin's father was completely out of the picture. Anakin himself never went to school as a child, one because he didn't have a birth certificate, and two because his family needed him to work for money. All around him was gambling and other illegal activity. The authorities weren't even aware that Anakin Skywalker existed until he was nine years old.

Therefore, Anakin didn't trust the authorities. He didn't think that he was above the law, but he thought it very unlikely that if he did something wrong that he would be caught.

Luke understood that, and so did Leia, but Luke's main issue was that he couldn't believe his father would abandon him to relatives. That's why he had become so depressed.

Beru glanced to one of the many pictures of Luke in the room. Luke was about three or four, blonde hair flying everywhere, his mouth fixed in a happy smile as he wrapped his arms around his father's legs. Not a care in the world, not a cuter face could be found.

"Don't worry, Luke," Beru whispered, finger caressing the blonde hair in the picture. "I'll protect you, sweetheart."

From the next room, a cry rose up as her nephew complained that his stomach hurt.

Beru smiled and rose up from her desk. Another opportunity to show Luke that he was loved.

* * *

><p><strong>Up Next<strong>: Who Knows


	5. The SITHLORD Group

**Author's Note**: Since the accident, I've been laid up with a bad shoulder and a bad neck. I'm getting better, but I'm getting so tired from having to still go to work through all of this. I do what I can.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own any of these characters.

* * *

><p>At RebelCorp, C3PO went into Yoh Da's office with Da's morning coffee and the newspaper. Da was a much better person to work for than Darth Vader, because Da was so much more even-tempered. Da never yelled; he just stated things calmly, even when there was trouble.<p>

Vader had growled, yelled, and threatened everyone's lives. Hardly a day went by at RebelCorp when someone wasn't running from his presence, but everyone at RebelCorp had to admit that Vader was an excellent vice president. He got things done.

"C3PO," Da stated in his calm voice as soon as the droid served him his coffee, "I want you to call a meeting of all executive staff for ten o' clock this morning. I have confidential police information to share on Darth Vader."

"Yes, sir, Master Da."

Da's confidential information was devastating; the general public had trouble believing the evidence that Da had presented to the police. Most average people did not believe in magic, the so-called Force, or placing a chokehold on someone without actually being in the room. There was only circumstantial evidence in Darth's case, and no hard-core forensic fact. As a result, a grand jury had voted that there was not enough evidence to mount a case against Vader, and he would be released from prison that day.

Da had made the decision to place him on paid leave. He didn't want any more negative attention drawn to RebelCorp.

But what Darth intended to do now that he was free remained to be seen, and Da had to admit that he was frightened.

* * *

><p><em>Luke had just turned one. He was playing in his playpen, wearing a white t-shirt and blue polyester overalls. His mother plucked him out of his playpen and placed him on Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's living room carpet.<em>

_ "Luke," Mommy said gently, "we're going to practice walking, okay? Now, Mommy's going to help, because Mommy knows you can't balance on two feet yet. So let me take your hands, and we're going to walk to Uncle Owen."_

_ "Come on, Luke! Move those little legs!" Uncle Owen cheered from across the living room. Luke was grinning with his mouth wide open, the way only a baby could. He eventually toddled his way across the room and stumbled into Uncle Owen's waiting arms._

_ Uncle Owen happily lifted Luke into his arms. "We made it! We walked! Yay!" Uncle Owen cheered and raised Luke's little arm into the air. Luke just laughed._

Zzzzzz…

_Luke was four. It was a few months before the accident, and Daddy was sitting at the kitchen table, one hand holding up a spoon and the other touching his temple. He was staring at the spoon._

_ "Anakin, what on earth are you doing?" Mommy asked._

_ "Bending the spoon with my mind, Padme. I'm reading a book that's teaching me how to use the powers of my mind."_

_ "That's impossible. No one can do that."_

_ "Yes, they can, and this book proves it. Once I master this, I'm going to teach the kids."_

_ Later, Luke climbed up onto the kitchen counter. He held his hand out towards the cookie jar. He was going to use the powers of his mind to lift the top off the cookie jar and get a cookie._

_ Luke never could do it, and neither could Daddy..._

Zzzzz….

Luke had had a horrible night. He kept dreaming of sweet memories from his early childhood, memories that solidified that his parents had always been there for him. He felt depressed that his mother was gone, and even more depressed that his father was gone. Sure, he had nothing but pleasant memories of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, but they had never allowed Luke and Leia to pounce on their bed, or sit through EmpireCorp board meetings sipping juice while everyone else guzzled down coffee, or use R2D2 as a ride down the hall. Only Dad had done that.

Luke had ended up bursting into tears, trying hastily to dry his eyes, and then went into his aunt and uncle's bedroom. He turned on the light beside Aunt Beru and told her that he felt he was having a breakdown.

"Come into bed, sweetheart," Aunt Beru yawned. "Come on, just slip in. Everything'll look better in the morning, Luke, honey."

Luke snuggled in between his aunt and uncle, and fell asleep quickly in the cool bedroom. He woke up in the morning, stretched, and yawned. Uncle Owen was out milking, and Aunt Beru was fixing breakfast.

Today was the fifth day since Luke had been released from the hospital. Was it getting easier? A little, but there were still some bumps in the road.

Leia was coming to visit today. Uncle Owen had said so last night at dinner. "Luke, would you like your sister to come for a visit tomorrow?" he had asked. "Would that cheer you up?"

Luke shrugged. "I guess so. I don't know."

Beru nodded. "If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out," she agreed. "Let's have her over just for one afternoon and see."

Luke wondered back to his own bedroom and reached for his thin cotton robe. He had to be fed and bathed before Leia arrived with her godmother at eleven.

* * *

><p>Darth Sidious was the president of the Sith-Lord Group. The name was an acronym—S.I.T.H.L.O.R.D. stood for the Sidious Integrated Technology Holding of the Latest Organization of Robots and Droids. S.I.T.H.L.O.R.D. was a wholesaler for robot and droid parts. They even sold to companies like RebelCorp and EmpireCorp.<p>

Sidious was about seventy-five years old, but he wasn't married, and he had no children. The Sith-Lord Group was his baby, and he vowed to work until the he died. He had begun the company only five years ago when his brother, the then-president and CEO of EmpireCorp, complained that all of the tech wholesalers were trying to rip him off.

"I'd never rip off my brother," had been Sidious' reply, and had set up the company pronto.

Presently, Sidious was looking for a new technology buyer. The first résumé he happened to pick up was Darth Vader's.

Sidious perked up. His own name was Darth, and his assistant's name was also Darth. Was this a good sign?

Vader had an excellent résumé. He had worked for two major technology corporations! He had written in his cover letter that he was looking for a change after working for the same type of corporation for so long. He was also willing to relocate to Naboo, Nevada, which was where the Sith-Lord Group was based.

Sidious called up his assistant. "Darth, this is Darth," he said, chuckling at his little joke. "Get this guy Vader on the line. We need to schedule an interview!"

* * *

><p><strong>Up Next<strong>: Leia Comes to Visit


	6. Leia Comes to Visit

**Disclaimer**: I don't own these characters.

**Author's Note**: I've been feeling much better since the accident, and I'm still trying to get my life back on track. Luke is, too…

* * *

><p>Leia was stunned. All of the pictures of her that Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen had put out on their fireplace mantle were completely gone, replaced with pictures of Luke.<p>

Luke blowing bubbles into his milk. Luke throwing a snowball. Luke sleeping in their father's arms.

"It's not that we don't love you anymore, honey," Aunt Beru told her gently. "We just need to show Luke how precious he is to us."

Leia nodded; Luke _did_ look pretty cute with that little scowl on his face as he was throwing a snowball at what looked like Dr. Kenobi's car. But her brother certainly hadn't been in his right mind when he had tried to slit his wrists, so maybe Aunt Beru's way of thinking was best.

"How has Luke been?" Mrs. Organa asked as she and Leia sat down on farmhouse's living room sofa. She and Leia had flown in on the Organas' private jet.

"He's been as well as he can possibly be," Beru sighed as she sank into Owen's easy chair. "He bathes, he sleeps, and he's starting to eat. His friend showed up yesterday, and that _really_ brightened him up."

Luke wondered into the living room, clad in sweatpants and a long cotton t-shirt called a farm tunic.

"Hi, Luke, sweetie!" Mrs. Organa cooed. "How have you been doing?"

"Alright," Luke shrugged. "Thanks for Timmy the Tauntaun, Mrs. Organa. I want to read some more of his comics."

"You're welcome, honey. Mr. Organa picked it out, he thought you would like it."

Luke sank down on the sofa next to his sister, and Leia reached over and hugged him. "Luke, I've missed you so much!" she said quietly, and paused. "Did Mark Fisher come here yesterday?"

"Yeah, he told me he asked Marilou out, but they can't agree on which movie they want to see," Luke murmured as he embraced his sister.

That made Leia giggle. "She called last night, but she didn't say anything about that. She just told me that Han hadn't graduated and has to repeat his senior year. And that Jason Hutt dropped out of school."

Luke looked amused at that last report.

"Want to go somewhere that we can talk, Luke?"

"Yeah, do you want to come up to my room?"

Leia shrugged. "Okay."

Luke didn't get up from the couch. He just leaned over and embraced his sister again.

_I missed you too, Luke,_ came Leia's mind message.

There was so much love behind it that Luke was able to receive it, even in his groggy mind state.

* * *

><p>Upstairs, Luke and Leia went into the guest room, where Luke had taken up residence, and sat on the bed under a quilt. The window air conditioner unit was on full-blast.<p>

"I want to live here with you," Leia confessed to her brother. "I want to go to school here, with Carrie and Marilou. Mr. and Mrs. Organa were going to send me to some boarding school in California."

Luke paled. And he thought it was bad enough with his sister living in Carson City, three hours away. If Leia was sent to boarding school in another state, he wouldn't even know how to deal with it. "But Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen can't afford it," he told Leia, sounding upset. "They can barely afford me."

"Mr. Organa wrote an e-mail to Uncle Owen. I found it on his computer," Leia told her brother quietly. "He's offering to pay Uncle Owen child support."

Luke looked surprised. "I guess that's the only way," he admitted.

Leia smiled and pushed back a lock of her brother's hair. "Have you thought about school?"

"Yeah, I told Aunt Beru that I didn't want to go back, but having Mark over yesterday was so fun. I _want_ to see my best friend every day. Last night, I told Aunt Beru that I actually _want _to go back to school, and she said she was proud of me. She told me that I had to see my therapist a few times before I go back to school, though."

Leia shrugged. "Okay. Do you like your therapist, Luke?"

"Oh, yeah, he's very nice. His name is Dr. Jinn. He said he went to medical school with Dr. Kenobi, and he practices meditation and yoga with Mr. Da!"

* * *

><p>Downstairs, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru were deep in negotiations with Mrs. Organa.<p>

"You don't need to make a special trip. Bail and I can _pay_ delivery men to deliver an extra bedroom suite we have at Alderaan to your guest room," Mrs. Organa said calmly.

"As long as you don't need that furniture," Aunt Beru replied calmly. She was feeling overwhelmed at the Organas' resources.

"Oh, no. It's sitting in a room and doing nothing. Plus, I could use that space to convert into a workout room," Mrs. Organa said. "It would be best not to haul Leia's furniture from her father's home, because what if Luke and Leia move back in with their father? You'd have to haul all of that furniture back!"

"Well, if they move back in with their father, you would want your furniture back too, wouldn't you?" Owen asked her.

"No, trust me. This bedroom furniture is a _gift_. We need to get rid of it!"

Owen cleared his throat. "Moving on to child support...I agree that Beru and I can't support both kids on what we have, but we refuse to accept five thousand a month. That's _way_ too much!"

"Well, the kids need school supplies and clothes. You'll need extra food and more money for utilities. And what about Leia's ballet lessons? Dance tuition and ballet equipment is expensive."

"I forgot about Leia's ballet," Beru murmured to her husband.

"And Luke plays soccer for the varsity team at school," Owen said, closing his eyes in resignation. He sighed. "I'll accept one thousand a month in child support. No more."

Breha Organa stared. "Are you sure that will be enough?"

* * *

><p><strong>Up Next<strong>: Darth's Job Interview


	7. Darth's Worst Nightmare

**Disclaimer**: I don't own these characters.

* * *

><p>"Here, Mark, honey. This will help."<p>

Luke was sitting next to his best friend on the Lars' living room sofa. Beru sat down on Mark's other side and handed him what was left of the Lars' supply of ice cream. Mark accepted the spoon and dug in. "Thanks, Mrs. Lars."

"But...but…" Luke was trying to think of something supportive to say to his friend. "Marilou only said she hated _the movie_. She didn't say she hated _you_, Mark." Mark's date with Marilou had ended in disaster.

Mark sighed and swallowed a mouthful of Rocky Road. "A bad date makes_ me _look bad, Luke."

"No, it doesn't, honey. I think going to the movies is a terrible idea for a date, anyway," Aunt Beru shrugged. "Mark, I would take her out to dinner. Get a chance to know her one-on-one. That way, you'll know if your personalities really mesh."

Mark nodded and swallowed another mouthful.

"Which movie did you see, anyway?" Luke asked him.

"Oh, we're both into horror movies, so we saw _Curse of the Haunted Parking Lot_. Not a good choice, Luke."

* * *

><p>Darth Vader had polished his helmet and ironed his black robes for his job interview with S.I.T.H.L.O.R.D. He felt his outfit needed something more, so he opened his closet and found the tie that Luke had given him for Father's Day when Luke was only five: it was an ugly orange tie with red polka dots. Darth had hated it, but had worn it periodically anyway, to try to prove to Luke that he liked it. Either way, it looked downright silly for a job interview.<p>

He also found a scarf that Leia had knit him in summer camp. But it was stupid to wear a scarf in August.

He found a snazzy purple tie that he had worn when he was still going under the name of Anakin Skywalker. Somehow, the solid tie looked ravishing; Darth tied it around his black robes and stared into the mirror. Yep, it would do.

Naboo, Nevada was two hours away from Tatooine, in the southeast corner of the state. The drive there was simply dreadful; if a road trip took more than an hour, Darth rode in the D.E.A.T.H.S.T.A.R., which was the RebelCorp corporate jet that he had basically annexed as his own jet. However, borrowing the private jet while on leave from RebelCorp seemed downright disrespectful, if not frowned upon. Darth was forced to drive to Naboo in his Cadillac Escalade instead.

S.I.T.H.L.O.R.D. was housed in a basic one-story warehouse. When Darth opened the door to the lobby, he looked around for some sort of receptionist- and found himself staring at the ugliest human being he'd ever seen.

The young man was fresh out of college, with a face completely tattooed in red and black ink. His eyes were yellow; he had to have been wearing colored contacts. His ears, eyebrows, nose, and lips were pierced multiple times each, and his buzz cut was molded into what looked like horns on his head.

If Darth Vader hadn't been wearing a mask, he knew he would have been in huge trouble from staring so much.

"I'm Darth Vader," he told the ugly stranger at long last. "I'm here to see Darth Sidious for a job interview."

"Right," the kid murmured, looking down at a desk littered with memos. He was wearing black robes like Vader's, but he had a terrible body odor. Luke smelled better after a soccer game. "He's expecting you. Go on in." The kid pointed to a door straight ahead.

Vader arched his shoulders back and confidently walked to Darth Sidious' door. He knocked a couple of times before entering, only to find a _verrrrry _familiar face seated behind a desk.

"Palpatine," Vader gasped, breathing through his respirator. "I thought you were dead!"

"Did you _see_ me die, Vader?" Sidious asked in his frail voice, brushing back a tuft of gray hair.

Several months ago, when Vader still worked for EmpireCorp, his boss, Edward Palpatine, had had a coronary and died. Vader hadn't known much about Palpatine at the time, except that he had become CEO of EmpireCorp after his brother, the original CEO and founder, had passed away.

And now, not only was he still alive, but he had been running an _additional _company on the side? Darth was in shock. This man was a corporate _genius_!

"No," Vader stammered. "No, I never _saw_ you dead, I was just told by the other executives that-"

"Well, I'm glad I finally caught up with you. You have failed me, Vader. I expected you to put that RebelCorp out of business once and for all!"

"But Earl Jones-"

"I didn't care what Earl Jones did or didn't do. There's no need for an interview here; we have to get to work!"

* * *

><p>"Aunt Beru, when does Leia come?" Luke couldn't sleep; he was in his aunt and uncle's bed again that night.<p>

"I've told you a dozen times, Luke. Leia is coming next weekend to stay for good. She'll finally have her own bedroom."

"Aunt Beru, I need to see Dr. Jinn."

"Well, your next appointment is on Monday. Do you need to see him before then?"

"No, but I'm afraid I'll forget what I have to tell him."

"Write it down, Luke," Uncle Owen advised him. "Then you won't forget."

"Okay, Uncle Owen." Pause. "Uncle Owen, can you give me some more room? I'm squished here."

"Sorry, Luke. I barely have room myself."

"I need Timmy. Aunt Beru, can you-"

"Luke, if the three of us can barely fit in here, what makes you think we can fit Timmy?" asked Beru, exasperated.

"I can't sleep without Timmy," Luke pouted.

"Luke, just go to sleep," Uncle Owen mumbled, exhausted.

"But Uncle Owen-"

"Luke, you heard your uncle, now _get to sleep_!"

* * *

><p><strong>Up Next<strong>: Luke and Dr. Jinn


	8. Darth's Custody Woes

**Disclaimer**: I don't own these characters.

* * *

><p>Dr. Jinn had a calming presence. He was tall and soft spoken, with long hair. The long hair was just plain cool; he was the only grown man that Luke knew with long hair, unless one counted Dr. Kenobi and the beard he had grown when Luke was in the seventh grade.<p>

"I'm very pleased with the progress you've been making, Luke," Dr. Jinn smiled at Luke as Luke sat on the beige sofa and he sat in his chair. A box of tissues was on the coffee table as usual, but today Luke hadn't used them; he was feeling so much better.

"But I want to keep you on your medication," Dr. Jinn continued. "It's very important you stay on your medication."

Luke nodded. "I always fall asleep in the afternoon, though. I can't ever to go to school or hang out with my friends if I'm always falling asleep right after lunch."

"Don't worry about school. We'll amend your regimen for school. Just stick with the current regimen for now, all right? As for hanging out with your friends, well…it's too hot to do anything in the afternoon this time of year anyway, except go to the movies. And nothing's playing."

Luke nodded again. "Yeah, my best friend just saw _Curse of the Haunted Parking Lot_, and it ruined a date for him."

"If your friend likes horror movies, he should have gone to see _Count Rushmore_. I read a great review in the paper; apparently, it keeps everyone on the edge of their seats!"

"_Count Rushmore_?"

"Yes, it's about this vampire that lives in the side of Mount Rushmore during the time of-" Dr. Jinn started explaining the movie, but then saw the look on his patient's face and frowned. Luke looked completely confused and aloof.

"Okay, now that I think about it, the premise _is_ pretty silly," Dr. Jinn agreed. "So I stand by my original statement. There's nothing playing."

* * *

><p>Even the dreams were getting better.<p>

_ Luke dreamed about his Grandma Skywalker and Grandpa Lars, whom he'd never met. They'd died before he was even born, but Luke had seen pictures. He dreamed that he was still a baby, and they were holding him. He was so excited to be held by his Grandma Skywalker and Grandpa Lars that he wet his diaper._

Timmy was tossed to the floor in Luke's sleep.

Downstairs, Beru was making herself an evening cup of tea, and Owen was reading the paper. "Beru, are you ever afraid that Anakin is going to come back and demand his kids?" He had just gotten done reading an article about the grand jury refusing to acknowledge the murder evidence against Darth.

"No, I'm not afraid," Beru shrugged. "I'll just live it up to Luke as to what he wants to do. If he wants to go home with his father, that's his right."

Owen put down the paper. "But Beru, what if Luke isn't in the right mindset to _make _that decision?"

"He's _not sick_, Owen. He was _released_ from the hospital. Dr. Jinn said he's doing absolutely _fine_; for all intents and purposes, Luke is pretty much back to normal. Just give him another month or so, and he'll be the same strong kid he always was."

Owen sighed. "I want what's best for Luke. And I don't think going back to live with his father is going to be the best thing for Luke."

"Well, let's just keep him with us and not worry about it, Owen."

* * *

><p>Darth Vader was back in Tatooine. The workday was over, so there was nobody at RebelCorp. Darth was taking this opportunity to clear out his desk and draft a letter of resignation to Yoh Da.<p>

Up on the top floor, Darth unlocked his office. R2D2 was asleep in the corner; Darth turned him on and ordered him downstairs to the Escalade. Then he unlocked his closet, grabbed an empty cardboard box, and filled it with the few personal possessions he kept on his desk: the picture of Luke and Leia as babies, another tie that Luke had given him for a past Father's Day, and college brochures that he had been hoarding for the kiddos.

He slipped a jump drive into his computer and downloaded all of the files from his computer onto it. He couldn't take the computer with him, but those files were going to be very valuable at S.I.T.H.L.O.R.D.

Finally, he slipped some frames off of the walls: various awards made out to Darth Vader. He had won Employee of the Year at EmpireCorp in 1999.

Carrying the box under one arm, he went to Yoh Da's office and dropped his resignation letter on his desk. Without looking back, he went to the elevator and took it all the way down to the first floor.

_What should I do about the kiddos?_ Darth asked himself as he made his way out to the Escalade, where R2D2 was beeping. The princess could probably be swindled over to Naboo—with the promise of an updated wardrobe and weekend sleepovers with her friends, Leia was up for anything—but the Lukester was going to prove difficult. Owen and Beru wouldn't give the Lukester up now, not in his condition.

Part of Darth was disgusted that his son had attempted suicide—Skywalkers didn't solve their problems that way!- but most of Darth was relieved. He didn't want to lose his little Lukester. He really needed to have a man-to-man talk with the boy.

_ "What did you think there wasn't a way out of, son?"_

_ "Well, Dad, you'd been arrested, and Leia was sent to live with those awful politicians, and I was sent to live with your boring stepbrother on his boring farm-"_

_ "Now, I understand that your uncle's farm isn't the most exciting place, but I would have rescued you sooner or later, son. Your sister, though, is another story. Nothing is going to make me to go to Carson City except to blow up Alderaan."_

_ "Oh, please, Dad!" Luke would beg. "I can't live without Leia!"_

_ Big sigh from Darth. "I'll see what I can do, Lukester."_

Darth needed his kids back. He needed to see their little faces.

As Darth started up his Cadillac Escalade for the ride home, and helped R2D2 into the back, he stood by his original conviction. He _needed_ to get Leia first, because she would be easier to bribe. _Sure, princess, after you, we're picking up Lukey_, he'd say to her. _I'll buy you that new cell phone you want so that you can call your little friends more often. And I'll let you pick out your bedroom in our new house!_

With Leia on board, hopefully Beru and Owen would let Luke go. Darth didn't know Luke's mental condition, but he was sure that Beru and Owen weren't letting him make his own decisions just yet.

"As soon as we get home, I'm calling Organa," Darth growled to R2D2 as he started the drive home. "The charges have been dropped, so there's no reason as to why my princess should go on living there."

R2D2 gave out a beep that Darth knew all too well.

"Yes, I _am_ prepared to blow up their house if necessary," Darth breathed through his respirator. "I will not allow myself to be bullied by that Bantha fodder of a man!"

* * *

><p><strong>Up Next<strong>: Alderaan is blown up (sort of)…


	9. Luke Makes Progress

**Disclaimer**: I don't own these characters.

* * *

><p>Darth hated Bail Organa with a passion. That was nothing new.<p>

But Darth knew that if he was going to get his daughter back, he had to be nice to Organa. If he was nasty, Organa would never give Leia back. Organa hated Vader, too.

So he decided to call Bail up nicely.

"I do NOT think that moving to Naboo is a very good idea," Organa said firmly to Vader over the phone later that evening. "The grand jury may have found insufficient evidence, Vader, but that doesn't mean you're not guilty. I want my goddaughter in a stable, supportive home."

"You don't think that as her father, I can give her a stable, supportive home?" Vader balked.

"_No_. And forget about bribing her; she's old enough that she's wised up to that charade."

"Well, what does Leia want to do?" Vader fumed.

"Let me ask her." Vader heard Organa turn away from the phone. "Leia, would you like to move to Naboo with your father?"

"_Naboo_?" Leia sounded startled. "I want to go to _Tatooine _to be with Luke!"

"LUKE IS COMING WITH US!" Vader shouted over the phone, hoping his voice was loud enough so that someone on the other end could hear him.

"But Daddy," Leia whined. She had evidently heard him. "All of my friends are in Tatooine."

"Organa, hand Leia the phone," Vader barked.

Bail did, but turned the phone on speaker so that he could hear everything that they were saying.

"Leia, honey, there are a lot of things in Tatooine that we need to put behind us," Vader explained patiently to his daughter. "That Solo kid, we can leave him behind. And Tatooine is where your mother died, and that upsets you and Luke."

"Dad, I _don't want_ to go! I want to go to Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen's to be with Luke!" Leia said stubbornly. "They're taking good care of him. They're what he needs right now."

"That's enough, honey," Bail smiled nervously, snatching the phone back from his goddaughter and turning the speaker button off.

But Vader grinned from underneath his helmet. His daughter had given him all of the information he needed.

Ordering R2D2 to bring up his stepbrother's e-mail account (R2D2 could hack into anything,) he found an e-mail from Owen to Bail and Breha, giving them the dimensions of the bedroom they were clearing for Leia. "See you next Friday!" he finished up.

If he couldn't sweet-talk his daughter, and if he couldn't persuade his kids' guardians to give them up (he didn't even want to bother with Owen and Beru), he would have to get his kids back by force. Kidnapping was defined as taking someone against their will, but Lukey and Leia loved him. He wouldn't be taking them against their wills.

And he had the perfect plan.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Lukey,<em>

_ Dad called today and wanted to know if I wanted to move to Naboo with him._

_ Can you imagine? I don't want to go to Naboo. I want to be down at Uncle Owen's with you. How have you been down there? Have you been out with Mark at all?_

_ There's really nothing new here except part of Alderaan blew up this morning—literally. Mr. Organa had a mechanic working on his car, and he accidentally spilled a can of gasoline on the garage floor. Later, a gardener came by, threw a cigarette on the ground, and KABOOM! Now Mr. Organa is out his car AND his best gardener is in the hospital._

_ I used some of my allowance to buy you some new Timmy comics. I'll give them to you when I see you!_

_Your sister,_

_Leia _

* * *

><p>"Naboo?" Dr. Jinn raised his eyebrows. "What's there for your father to do in Naboo?"<p>

Luke shrugged. "I don't know. Leia didn't say in her e-mail. She didn't know when I called her, either."

"So, you're afraid that your father is going to ask you to move to Naboo with him and your sister?"

"Yeah."

"How does that make you feel?"

Luke sat back on Dr. Jinn's couch and thought. He had asked Aunt Beru to make him an emergency appointment with his therapist after reading Leia's e-mail. "I don't know," he admitted. "I've lived with Dad most of my life, and it hasn't been bad. But I would miss my friends, and Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen. Mark Fisher and I have been best friends since kindergarten."

Mark and Luke had both been crying on the first day of kindergarten. They had been an easy match up.

"Would you feel safe living with your father, Luke?" Dr. Jinn asked.

_Wow, what a question_, Luke thought to himself. Finally, he looked up at Dr. Jinn, a confused look on his face. "I don't know," he confessed. "I don't think he would intentionally do anything to harm Leia or I, but I don't know what was going through his head as he killed that man…if that's what happened," he added hastily.

"Why do you think he did it? Did he have a grudge against that man?"

"Sort of," Luke confessed. "He was upset that Mr. Jones got the CEO job. Dad's always wanted to be a CEO. He's always been saying that he wants nothing else to do than sit around all day, do nothing, and get paid millions of dollars."

"Well, do you think your life would have been easier under those circumstances? Would he have spent more time with you and your sister? Would he have supported you more?"

"Probably not," Luke confessed. "Being CEO of anything is a big job. But if Dad was right, and that's how the job turned out, I bet he _would have_ spent more time with Leia and I. He probably even would have bought me a car when I turned sixteen."

"So, Luke," Dr. Jinn asked his patient, "is it fair to assume that killing the CEO of EmpireCorp, as awful as that action was, was an act of _love_ that your father committed for you and your sister?"

"I don't know," Luke shrugged, wide-eyed. "But I'm sure _Dad_ thought of it that way."

"So your father isn't that bad of a guy after all?"

"He's not an angel, and I'm still not sure if I want to move to Naboo with him," Luke said warily. "But you have to admit, Dr. Jinn, the man isn't _all _bad."

"I feel we're making a lot of progress here, Luke."

* * *

><p><strong>Up Next<strong>: ?


	10. Darth Visits Luke

**Disclaimer**: I don't own these characters.

* * *

><p><em>Luke's dream that night was funny. He was on Hoth, and he lived with Dad and Leia. He had to ride Timmy the Tauntaun to school. <em>

_ Han was on Hoth too, and he drove the Millennium Falcon, but this time it was a spaceship instead of a car._

_ "You don't come back with my little girl tonight, and I'm going to kill you," Dad told Han right before he and Leia were leaving for a date._

_ "Don't worry, Mr. Vader, I'll have her back before ten," Han promised Dad as he lifted Leia onto a tauntaun._

What a weird dream, Luke thought to himself as he awoke the next morning. _Why on earth would Han and Leia be dating_?

Luke took a shower and went downstairs to breakfast.

"Luke, honey, I'm so proud of you," Aunt Beru smiled as she handed him his bowl of Space-O's. "You're really getting things together. But this sugary cereal has got to stop; you need a better breakfast than this."

Luke froze, spoon halfway to his mouth. "Can I still have my Space-O's once a week?" he begged.

"Okay, once a week." Aunt Beru sat down next to him at the table. "Now, your soccer coach called. Do you still want to be on the team this year?"

"Only if Mark is," Luke told her. "He said something about joining the theatre troupe. If that's true, I'm quitting the soccer team and joining the Art Club."

They both heard the sound of a car in the distance, rolling up to the house. Aunt Beru stood up from the kitchen table and went over to the window. "Oh, my God," she said flatly. "Luke, go up to your room."

"Why?" Luke asked through a mouthful of Space-O's.

"It's your father."

Luke shrugged. "I _want_ to see Dad!"

* * *

><p>Darth, meanwhile, was having a rough time at his new job. For one thing, he kept calling his new boss "Palpatine," and Palpatine insisted Darth call him "Darth Sidious." Now he knew how his stepbrother Owen felt when Owen kept calling him "Anakin" by mistake.<p>

And then there was that assistant kid, Darth Maul. Vader wanted so much to just go up to him, tell him to wash his face (even though it was tattoo, not makeup), take his piercings out, and take a shower.

"Palpatine, there are too many Darths in this building," Vader complained to his boss. "I can't get along with Maul. He's just too awkward."

"Then kill him," Sidious shrugged.

Vader had no idea whether he was serious or joking. He decided to just say "Very good, sir," and leave.

But Vader needed to see his Lukester. He asked R2D2 to hack into the hospital's patient database to bring up Luke's medical records, but R2D2 was still working on it. Damn privacy laws.

He drove his Cadillac Escalade out to the Lars farm and knocked on the farmhouse door. His sister-in-law answered, clearly looking surprised to see him. "Hi, Darth. What's going on?"

"I want to see the Lukester," Darth told her. "Where's my Lukester?"

Luke was at the kitchen table eating his Space-O's.

"_Lukester_! Come here and give your old man a hug!"

Darth sat down at the kitchen table, and Luke hugged his father tightly. Darth wished, just for a moment, that he was able to touch Luke through his black gloves, but wrapping his arms around his little boy would have to do. Owen and Beru had obviously been taking good care of him; he was dressed in a robe, eating breakfast, and smelling like the citrus soap that Beru stocked in the guest bathroom. He had color in his cheeks and a smile on his face.

"It's about time I smelled somebody that smells of something other than body odor," Darth complained to his son. "Son, wait until I tell you about this new job I have in Naboo."

"Leia told me," Luke told his father, wide-eyed, and he sat back down in his seat and resumed eating Space-O's. "I didn't want you to leave your old job, Dad. What about Mr. Da? What about yoga?"

"Well, Luke, if you come and live with me in Naboo, we'll find someone new for you to practice yoga with," Darth promised his son. "But I got this new job, I figured I need a fresh start, and it's a job wholesaling parts to robotic companies just like RebelCorp. Now, this administrative assistant in the front office, he's only a few years older than you, son, and he has his entire face tattooed. He looks like Satan."

Luke burst out laughing, almost choking a mouthful of his cereal.

"And he has piercings in his eyebrows, nose, lips, ears-"

"I think he could use a counseling session with Dr. Jinn," Luke commented. "I bet he has a reason for looking that way, Dad. I bet he takes his self-expression very seriously."

"Well, there's no excuse for not bathing. The young man smells like the garbage dump that your grandmother used to take the trash out to when I was a kid. What kind of statement are you trying to make by smelling like that?"

"Maybe he's a troubled young soul who needs help," Beru offered.

"Maybe his girlfriend thought he was ugly and broke up with him, so he's in mourning," Luke suggested.

"_Luke_!"

"It could be true, Aunt Beru," Luke shrugged. He paused. "Dad, do Leia and I have to move to Naboo with you?"

"Only if you want to, Luke. Are you okay staying here and living with your aunt and uncle?"

"Yeah," Luke said quietly. "I want to stay here with Mark and go to school."

"We're certainly making an improvement," Beru murmured to Darth. "Last week, he didn't want to go."

"Good kiddo," Darth breathed, patting his son on the shoulder.

* * *

><p>An hour's visit with Luke wasn't the reason that Darth had come out to the farm, even though it was a relief to know that the Lukester was doing well.<p>

After he checked on his son, Darth made a quick run around his stepbrother's property in his Cadillac Escalade. He wanted to know all of the ways in—

- and out.

* * *

><p><strong>Shameless Self Promotion<strong>: I'm on Twitter! My handle is [insert the 'at' symbol here]centraliacurrie.

**Up Next**: Leia Moves In


	11. Leia Moves In

**Disclaimer**: I don't own these characters.

* * *

><p>Leia's move-in was smoother than her aunt and uncle imagined; her godfather pulled up with Leia in his car, followed by two men in a truck. The men unloaded and carried a bed, dresser, nightstand, and desk to Leia's room in ten minutes flat, and it only took them ten additional minutes to unload a couple of boxes.<p>

"This surprises me," Luke told his sister as he sat on her bed and watched her unpack her clothes. "I thought you would have had a lot more."

"Mr. Organa told me the room was small, and if I didn't want to sleep out in the hallway, I had to bring only what was necessary."

_Smart man_, Luke thought. "Have you talked to Marilou about how the dates with Mark are going?"

"No, I don't want to pester her." Leia unloaded a stuffed tauntaun from her suitcase- this one was pink, with a bow on its head and long eyelashes- and set it on her bed.

"Awww, this is cute. Who's this?" Luke cooed, picking up the tauntaun.

"Tina the Tauntaun. Mrs. Organa gave her to me."

"Can I sleep with her?" Luke smiled, hugging the stuffed animal to his chest.

"_No_! She's mine, Luke."

"You don't read the comic books!"

"I don't care. She was a gift."

"Are you two going to start arguing already?" Beru asked, stepping into Leia's room. "Come on, Luke, you need to try on some sweaters. I think I mended as many as I could. Leia, honey, keep unpacking. Then we'll have lunch."

* * *

><p>It wasn't like Darth Vader didn't have a conscience, but if Palpatine had given him genuine permission to kill Darth Maul, Vader gladly would have done it.<p>

But Palpatine had other ideas. Now he was on Vader's back about Luke. "Is that son of yours out of school yet?"

"No, he has two more years of high school, then he's off to college."

"Does Luke _have_ to go to college? I need someone to hand this business over to, and I can't wait six years to-"

"I want Luke and Leia to have the opportunities that I never had," Vader told his boss firmly.

"They will have good opportunities, Vader! Now, what about your daughter?"

"Leia? Oh, that blasted Bail Organa is on her back to become some kind of politician. I don't understand it," Vader replied gruffly.

"Would you like Bail Organa to be taken care of?"

"Oh, boy,_ would I_! But I can't do that. Leia would be terribly heartbroken."

"Whatever you wish."

_Whatever you wish_? Was Palpatine serious? Darth had to get his mind off of S.I.T.H.L.O.R.D.

Once he was back in the safety of his office, Darth sent text messages to R2D2 and C3P0. He wanted to make sure that the kids' rooms were ready.

The droids weren't asking many questions during this process. They were pretty smart.

* * *

><p>When Luke and Leia were living with their aunt and uncle after their parents' accident, bedtime was always a routine. Uncle Owen would take them into the bathroom and brush their teeth. Then he would tuck them into the queen-size bed.<p>

"Uncle Owen, tell us a story," Luke would insist.

"Yeah," Leia would demand.

So Uncle Owen usually read them a story. By the end of it, the kids were passed out, facing the same way, fast asleep. It was too cute.

"Leia," Aunt Beru told her after their first dinner that night as a family. "We have to run out tomorrow and get you an air conditioning unit for your room. It might be too hot in there tonight, so did you want to sleep in Luke's room."

"Okay, Aunt Beru."

"Aunt Beru, I like my new jeans," Luke spoke up through a mouthful of bread. Beru had patched up his jeans using patches with Batman symbols on them. "I almost don't want to wear them to school. Mark will want to take them."

"Luckily, he can't take them while you're wearing them," Uncle Owen chuckled.

After dinner, Luke and Leia watched television with their uncle while their aunt did the dishes. Leia was surprised when Uncle Owen told Luke it was time to go to bed at nine o' clock. Uncle Owen explained that Luke was still on heavy medication and needed a lot of sleep, but Leia just shrugged it off. She'd had a long day, and going to bed early was looking better and better.

Leia had made a little sleeping mask for Tina the Tauntaun, and Luke had to admit that it looked cute when Leia slipped it on. Maybe it would be nice to make Timmy a pair of pajamas.

"Is Tina a domesticated tauntaun?" Luke asked his sister as they slipped into the queen size bed.

"I think so," Leia replied. "Mrs. Organa said there used to be a cartoon on TV called 'Tina the Tauntaun.' I tried to look it up on the internet, and it said that Tina lived in a cave with some Hoth explorers."

Luke and Leia placed the two stuffed tauntauns between them, and wrapped their arms around each other. "'Night, Timmy," Luke yawned. "You've made a new friend."

"Don't go to sleep yet, Luke!" Aunt Beru said, coming into their bedroom with a glass of water and some pills on a tray. "Time for your medicine."

* * *

><p>Darth had successfully gotten his droids to move his kids' belongings down to his new rental house in Naboo. Now he sat at his desk with a map of his stepbrother's property.<p>

This was going to be a cinch compared to killing Earl Jones. Jones was an idiot whose death needed to be practiced and planned out, but this wasn't going to be a murder. This was going to be a_ rescue mission_! Darth was rescuing his kids and bringing them back to their father; that was his justification for doing what he was going to do.

Lukey's problems would go away once he was with his family once again, and Leia- Leia was _Daddy's_ princess, but Bail Organa's princess.

"I am your father, kiddos," he whispered under his breath. "It's time for me to get you two back."

* * *

><p><strong>Shameless Self Promotion<strong>: I'm on Twitter! You can follow me at centraliacurrie.

**Up Next**: "Rescue Mission"


	12. Rescue Mission

**Disclaimer**: I don't own these characters.

* * *

><p>The following day was, for all intents and purposes, pretty normal. Beru went out shopping and bought an air conditioning unit for Leia's room with the Organas' first child support payment. She also gave some money to Luke and Leia for new clothes.<p>

"Luke, all of these t-shirts are being thrown out," she said firmly to her nephew. "I cannot stand to have my nephew attend school wearing these. They look atrocious."

Luke was devastated. "But Aunt Beru, Sebulba Cheats at Podracing is my favorite band! I paid thirty dollars for that shirt at a concert!" It wasn't even a concert that Luke had attended with his friends; for some odd reason, Darth Vader _loved_ Sebulba Cheats at Podracing. He had attended the concert and worn a fake purple mohawk over his helmet. Luke had colored his hair purple. All of the members of the band had their hair dyed purple.

"Well, it has three holes in it," Aunt Beru said disdainfully, holding up the t-shirt. "It's being thrown out."

"Can I wear it over another t-shirt so that the holes don't show?"

"NO!"

Luke rode his bike with Mark to the comic book store, where he bought most of his t-shirts anyway. He was able to buy some new t-shirts, but none of them supported Sebulba Cheats at Podracing. The comic book store didn't stock any Timmy the Tauntaun shirts, either.

Leia just ordered online with the credit card that her godparents gave her for birthday. She'd use her money to pay off the credit card.

"Aunt Beru, I can cut out the band logo on that old t-shirt and then have you sew it to my jeans, like you did with those Batman patches?" Luke asked his aunt that night at dinner.

"Luke, that band logo takes up the entire front of the t-shirt. Why on earth would you want to wear 'Sebulba Cheats at Podracing' all over your butt? That's probably the only place that I can sew it onto!"

"Because it's cool," Luke shrugged, his mouth full of food. "Jabba Hutt, last year he had these sweatpants with 'animal' printed all over the butt."

"Oh, and he's known for being a snappy dresser," Leia said sarcastically.

"Luke, just eat your dinner," Beru told her nephew, rolling her eyes. "How about I cut out that logo and sew it onto the front of a plain t-shirt? It'll look recycled. It'll look vintage."

"Okay."

* * *

><p><em>Luke was trying to set his father up on a date. It was pointless. He hadn't had a date since Luke and Leia' s mother. Nobody was willing to date a man who wore a black cape and freaky helmet.<em>

_ Han's parents were divorced. Han and Luke decided to set Darth up on a date with Mrs. Solo._

_ Luke was afraid it would actually work, and that his dad and Mrs. Solo would fall in love and want to get married. Then he and Leia would be stepsiblings to Han Solo. That would be a nightmare._

Luke woke up that night to his uncle, shaking him awake.

"Luke! Luke, wake up!"

"_Hmmm_?" Waking up Luke when he was under the influence of sleeping pills wasn't a good idea. He was groggy and out of it.

"Luke, I need you to come outside. There's a fire in the silo, and I don't want you inside the house in case the fire spreads."

That didn't surprise Luke very much. In Nevada in the summer, the heat sometimes caused major destruction. Heck, this was the desert.

"But I wanna sleep, Uncle Owen," Luke moaned tiredly, grabbing Timmy and snuggling under his sheets.

"Well, Aunt Beru will grab a blanket, and we can watch over you while you sleep outside, okay? Come on, Luke. You can't be in here."

Luke allowed his uncle to help him downstairs and outside. Across the field, three fire trucks were blinking wild lights as the firefighters struggled to contain the a small but distinct blaze inside the Lars' silo. Over in the barn, a farmhand who had been called to the scene by Uncle Owen was struggling to corral the cattle and pigs outside.

Aunt Beru had a blanket from the sofa, and she was spreading it out on the lawn. Owen helped his nephew onto the blanket, where Luke curled up and closed his eyes. His eyelids were just too heavy to stay awake.

Leia, clutching Tina the Tauntaun, was watching the fire from a couple of yards away. "How did the fire start, Uncle Owen?"

"Probably the weather, Leia. I'm not worried. Here, move onto the blanket with your brother."

From behind the house, Darth watched the scene from his Cadillac Escalade. Nobody could see the car in the dark.

Starting a fire in the silo proved to be a hard decision. Deep down, Darth couldn't bear to harm his stepbrother or any of his animals. After all, Owen and Beru had taken such good care of Luke and Leia. They deserved to be taken care of themselves.

From the glove compartment of the car, Darth fetched what looked like to be a grenade, but was actually filled with knockout gas. Quietly opening the driver's side door of the Escalade, he slunk forward, around the side of the house, and crept up next to the front porch. The blanket with Luke and Leia on it was only twenty feet away.

Carefully, Darth pitched the canister of gas forward, and waited about thirty seconds, until all four of them were on the ground.

Then, looking both ways, Darth crept up to the blanket and examined his work. Owen, Beru, Luke, and Leia were all knocked out, sleeping quietly on the blanket. Perfect.

Darth made a reach for his son. He picked up Luke into his arms and quietly carried him back to the Cadillac Escalade; the trunk was open, and the back of the vehicle was lined with pillows, for his kids' comfort.

"Good kiddos," he murmured under the hum of his respirator. "Now, you're with your father."

Next, Darth went back for Leia. The girl couldn't give up her little tauntaun; Timmy had fallen out of Luke's hands, but the pink tauntaun was firmly in Leia's grasp. Darth clutched his daughter to his chest, walked back to the car, and gently laid his daughter next to his son. Making sure both of them were safely laid in the trunk, he quietly closed the rear door of the car.

Darth made one last trip to the blanket, to make sure that Owen and Beru were safe. He propped Beru's head up with Timmy so it wasn't touching the ground, and retrieved the empty smoke canister so that there was no evidence at the scene.

Going back to the vehicle one last time, he slid into the driver's seat and quietly started the engine. "It is useless to resist," he whispered to his sleeping children in the back of the car as he started to drive the two hours to Naboo. "It is your _destiny_ to be with your father."

Luke and Leia slept on.

* * *

><p><strong>Up Next<strong>: Naboo


	13. Epilogue: Home Again

**Disclaimer: **I don't own these characters.

**Author's Note: **I couldn't resist slipping Jar Jar in here.

* * *

><p>Owen Lars was sitting at the kitchen table, aimlessly fondling the stuffed Tauntaun that Luke had loved and slept with ever since he had been in the hospital. Next to him with Bail Organa, and also sitting at the table were two police detectives. Beru was over on the living room sofa, crying. Her husband had tried to get her to go upstairs, or to give her comfort, but she wanted neither.<p>

"The part that bothers me is that I'm almost certain the fire was set as a diversion," Bail said quietly. He had flown in early that morning, and Owen had explained to him the entire story. "They wanted to distract you to get Luke and Leia outside, so they'd be easier to take."

"But who would take them?" a detective asked skeptically. His name was Detective Binks, and he had the biggest ears that Owen Lars had seen on a human being. "Senator Organa, have you been receiving any threats?"

"No," Senator Organa sighed. "The only person that I could think to take them was Anakin. He wanted them back, and he knew that Owen and Beru wouldn't allow it."

"Well, in the arms of the law, he would be allowed," Owen stated, setting the Tauntaun on the table. He couldn't bear to look at it anymore. "All he would have to do it go to court and ask the judge for them. Now that he's been vindicated of any wrongdoing in the Jones murder, there should be no problem."

"Anakin has no patience." Bail was rolling his eyes. "When the twins were infants, he would threaten to kill Luke if he woke up crying in the middle of the night. Heck, he takes a _plane_ if anywhere's more than an hour away."

"But Luke and Leia love him," Owen pointed out. There was a silence.

"Do you think that Luke and Leia could be in danger in the hands of their father?" Binks finally asked the pair of men.

"Ninety percent of me thinks _no_," Bail quipped. "As much an annoyance as it is to have them abducted. But there is still a slim chance that he may be one of those people who gets rid of his kids so that no one else can have them, if you know what I mean. Like those parents who kill their kids so that the other parent can never see them again."

"Same here," said Owen automatically.

"Okay, well, we'll put out an All-Points Bulletin for Anakin Skywalker, a.k.a. Darth Vader, and Luke and Leia Skywalker." The second detective, whose name was Fett, was scribbling on a notepad. He looked up, a look of stupidity on his face. "Why does he go by the name _Darth Vader_, anyway?"

All he got was a pair of shrugs from Bail and Owen.

Over on the living room sofa, Beru was crying softly. She wanted to believe that no harm would come to Luke and Leia, and their abduction was just Anakin being impatient to see his children and raise them again. They would be safe, right?

As she looked over towards the kitchen table again and spotted Luke's beloved toy, her eyes filled up once more with tears.

* * *

><p>In Naboo, Luke awoke groggily.<p>

"Good morning, Master Luke! It's so nice to see you again! Do you require some breakfast?"

It took Luke a moment to understand that C3PO was talking to him. Threepio had been standing by Luke's bedside for hours. It was all part of Darth's plan: take the kids home, put them in their new rooms, let them sleep, have a droid in there to greet them when they wake up. No big surprises.

"Do you have any Space-O's?" Luke asked, sounding as if he was using his voice for the first time in months. He had no idea where he was. "Where am I?"

"You're in Naboo, young Luke," said Threepio cheerfully.

Luke looked confused. "_Naboo_?" He looked around for Timmy the Tauntaun, and then discovered that he hadn't been sleeping with Timmy, but with his baby polar bear instead. "Did Dad bring me here?"

"Of course, young Luke. You and your sister. He went to your uncle's farm and picked up you and your sister very early this morning as soon as he heard about the fire in your uncle's silo."

"I don't remember that," Luke said wildly.

"Oh, you were fast asleep, young Luke. Now you're home with your father, and you need nourishment. This is a very nice home, it has central air conditioning, it's nice and secluded, and-"

"Where's Timmy?" Luke spoke up. "My stuffed tauntaun?"

"Your father didn't bring any stuffed animals in for you. Hmmm, your father probably forgot your Timmy. But it's all right, young Master Luke, he's just a toy. I'll get Artoo to bring you some breakfast."

Luke didn't know how he felt being back home with his father. He wanted Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen. He wanted his best friend Mark, and Timmy the Tauntaun, and Dr. Jinn.

_Dr. Jinn_! Luke thought to himself. _What would Dr. Jinn do?_

Well, Dr. Jinn would point out that if his father really loved him, why would his father take him home instead of having him recuperate with relatives? _Threepio said that Dad was afraid for me because of the fire at the silo. _Well, that made sense, didn't it? Luke believed that if he had a son who was emotionally fragile, and there was a fire at the place where he was staying, he'll bring his son home, too.

_Maybe Dad was just embarrassed at this whole Earl Jones thing, and he's been feeling some remorse, and he just wants to leave town and have a fresh start, like he said before_. Well- okay, so Luke had never known his father to show remorse, but Luke could only imagine that his father had never thought of what would happen to his life after the murder.

Luke got out of bed and stretched. _Maybe Dad's just needy, _he realized. _Maybe Dad could benefit from Dr. Jinn even more than I do._

"Time for your breakfast, my little Padawan!"

Luke smiled. His father often called him his Padawan. Luke had no idea what that meant, but he knew it was good.

Darth set a tray of breakfast on Luke's bed. "It's so nice to have you home, starkiller. I made you some ham and eggs special, and I couldn't forget your favorite cereal!"

Luke reached directly for the Space-O's. "Dad, I know you want me safe and all, but do you think you can call Uncle Owen and have him send Timmy?"

"Son, you don't need Timmy. He's just a material possession. What you need is some love from your family."

"But _I love Timmy_!"

"Okay, well, we'll get you a new Timmy. Your uncle is probably under a lot of anxiety from the fire, I don't want to bother him any more. Wait until I take you and your sister on a tour of our new home, kiddo! You're going to _love_ it here! We have a pool in the basement! You and your little friends can swim on the weekends. And we'll get you started on flying lessons, and if you don't want to go to a regular school, we can sign you up for school over the computer!"

Luke, sitting on his bed and eating Space-O's, looked around his new room and wrinkled his nose. Something just wasn't right about it.

Suddenly, he had it. "Dad," he said slowly, "why aren't there any windows in here?"

"Well, Luke, this new home is very contemporary. Avant-garde, if you will. And like I said, son, you're going to _love_ it-"

Outside, a police cruiser drove past the Skywalkers' new home. But he didn't see a home- or any clues that Anakin Skywalker was around.

All he saw was desert sand, a few cacti, and a mountain.

THE END


End file.
